The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Second Round saw United pitted
against East German team Dynamo Dresden. Perhaps they were not a side to instil
fear into the hearts of the United players, but still
a force to be reckoned with, as events showed. In the first leg, at Elland Road, United huffed and
puffed but they could only manage a lone goal, and a penalty at that, as their
opponents just simply refused to wilt under all the pressure exerted upon them.

Dresden had several fine players
in their ranks. Captain Hans-JuergenKreische spent the whole of his career with Dynamo scoring
one hundred and twenty-nine goals in two hundred and thirty-four appearances
for the club from 1964 to 1978. He was East
Germany’s leading scorer in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1976, and was
player of the year in 1973. Kreische was an East
German international, scoring twenty-five goals in fifty appearances. He was
part of the 1974 World Cup squad, and was also in the1972 Olympic bronze medal winning
team. Following his retirement from football, Kreische
worked as a coach with Dynamo's youth system and had a brief spell as
first-team manager, during the 1995-96 season. Hans-Jurgen “Dixie” Dorner gained one
hundred and six caps for East Germany from 1969 to1985. Klaus Sammer too was an East German International and had a long
career with Dresden. He later became a successful coach and was
the father of Matthias Sammer, the German
International who became the first East German to play for Germany after re-unification, and he was
‘European Footballer of the Year’ in 1996, the year he led Germany to victory in the European
championships. He won a UEFA championship medal with Borussia
Dortmund and three German league championship medals. He later became a
successful coach.

Leeds had several regular first-team players missing through
injury and a stomach bug which had swept through the United camp, including
Paul Reaney, Johnny Giles and Eddie Gray, and when
Gary Sprake was ruled out with a bruised hand,
goalkeeper David Harvey got one of his rare chances of playing in the senior
side, while full-back Nigel Davey was given his
European debut. The stomach bug also had got to Don Revie
and he was unable to take charge of the team so his assistant Maurice Lindley
took over his duties. The Manager’s illness also delayed the signing of
eighteen-year-old Joe Jordan from Scottish club Morton, who was to play many
games for United in Europe in the coming years.

Once more United had to face a nine-man defensive barrier,
and two of them who barred the way were giants in stature, Klaus Sammer stood 6’4” tall and Joachim Kern was 6’1” in height.
Together they were a formidable combination and behind them Manfred Kallenbach proved to be a safe last line of defence. For Leeds
it was a frustrating night, as they strove to pierce the defensive barrier
Dynamo had thrown up. Manfred Kallenbach was booked
in the second half, seemingly for wasting time, and GertHeidler’s name went into the referee’s notebook, too,
after he had fouled Terry Cooper.

Dynamo spent almost the entire game on the defence. Their
first dangerous move did not come until well into the second half, when Captain
JurgenKreische shot just
wide, but they managed to contain the Leeds attack for
the best part of an hour. With Allan Clarke going through a thin time in front
of goal, United needed to be very patient to find a way past Manfred Kallenbach and his defenders.

Terry Cooper and Norman Hunter were in top form for United,
but it was a struggle up front until the only goal finally came after
fifty-seven minutes from Peter Lorimer, via the
penalty spot, and it certainly provided some release for United, who had begun
to have the feeling that they were never going to penetrate the Dynamo defence.
Dynamo paid for their one error, which came when Jack Charlton beat the giant
Klaus Sammer to a cross from Norman Hunter. The
United centre-half headed the ball on for Rod Belfitt,
who was in the team for fractured cheek-bone victim Johnny Giles, and the
Doncaster-born striker saw his header beat Manfred Kallenbach.
Hans-Jurgen Dorner did the only thing left to him to
prevent a goal, he tipped the ball over the bar with
his fist. Peter Lorimer, taking the penalty in Johnny
Giles’ absence, despatched the spot-kick to perfection, right in the corner
giving Manfred Killenbach no chance. Peter Lorimer did have bad luck later with a header which hit Kallenbach’s feet and went for a corner. So United walked
off at the end knowing that their 1-0 victory was a slim enough margin to take behind the Iron Curtain for the return
encounter. And so it proved.

Match Action:

Rod Belfitt’s header
was heading for the top corner but Dornier (3)
punched it over the bar to concede a penalty

Peter Lorimer gave Kallenbach no chance from the spot to score the only goal of
the game

Teams:

Players:

Nigel Daveydeputised for the injuredDavid Harvey was in goal
for the injuredChris Galvin came
on as substitute for

Paul ReaneyGary SprakeRod Belfitt

Hans-Jurgen ‘Dixie’ DornierHans-JurgenKreische as coach

Klaus Sammer as
coachEuropean Footballer of the Year Matthias
Sammer, son of Klaus Sammer